


Lego Ninjago Rewrite, Season 1, Rise of the Snakes

by AhsokaTanoISAmazing



Series: LEGO Ninjago Rewrite [1]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Basically, Blood and Gore, Dark, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, Other, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Serpentine (Ninjago) - Freeform, Swearing, Tags May Change, Violence, Warnings May Change, What Was I Thinking?, hold on tight, no one is gonna read this, this is gonna be fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2020-08-10 23:22:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20143672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AhsokaTanoISAmazing/pseuds/AhsokaTanoISAmazing
Summary: What if Lego Ninjago was written for older people? What if Lego Ninjago was darker, and more violent, and people actually had darker purposes? What if the ninja acted their age, and they actually reacted like normal humans?Well this is what my (darker) take on Ninjago is!





	1. Rise of The Snakes

**Author's Note:**

> LOL have no idea if this will get any reads but oh well...  
Each chapter will (probably) be an episode, each "book" will be a season. This may take awhile bc I have to rewatch the episodes, and I have only seen up to Season 7! So no spoilers pls! THX!  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything

_Long before time had a name, The First Spinjitzu Master created Ninjago using four elemental weapons._

_But when he passed, a dark sought out to collect them all- Lord Garmadon._

_So I, Sensei Wu, his brother, sought out to find four ninja to collect them first._

The Monastery overlooked Ninjago, which was, (for once), at peace. It had been months since the ninja had defeated Lord Garmadon-no- Lord Garmadon _escaped _the ninja. Sensei Wu breathed in. _Inhale. Exhale. _Images came to him, in bright colors and flashes. But before he could focus on them, his concentration was broken by the sound of Kai's voice. "FIRE STRIKE! Oh my god, isn't that the greatest move you've ever seen?!" Cole's voice soon joined Kai's. "Stop trying to do it yourself, we need to attack as a team!" Sensei Wu stood up. They must have finally decided to train again. The old sensei left his room, and went towards the outdoor training area. He opened the door, and looked around. The training area was empty.

Where were they? "Zane! Why are you wasting your special attack on me?! You have to save it!" Jay. Sensei Wu went through the empty training yard, and was extremely disappointed in the fact that it was collecting dust. He opened the door at the end of the training yard, and found the four ninja playing a video game- about Ninja, no less! Jay groaned. "FUCK! I'm out of lives!" The other ninja laughed, and Zane said, "But the lesson lives on, and I'm getting the hang of it." Cole grinned and pressed another button. "Okay... NOW!" Kai, Zane, and Cole quickly pressed buttons on their controllers, fighting the boss, and Sensei Wu mentally groaned, wishing that they would focus this much on training. He spun over to the television, and quickly unplugged it. The Ninja collectively groaned.

"Aw man!" Cole.

"What?! What happened?" Jay.

"It took us _three _hours to get there!" Cole again. 

"Why would you do that?! Why?!" Jay again. 

Sensei Wu rolled his eyes. "Just because Lord Garamdon escaped through a vortex doesn't mean he won't return one day for the Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu!" Zane frowned. "But Sensei Wu, ever since he's been gone, Ninjago has had nothing but peace." Jay got up, rolling his eyes. "Yeah. Peace is _boring._ There's no one to save, nothing to _do." _Kai lied down behind Cole. "We can train tomorrow." Sensei Wu groaned, and rubbed his temples. "Never put off for tomorrow what can be done today." Cole smirked and picked up a piece of pizza that had been lying in a box on the floor. "Well, I was gonna eat this pizza tomorrow. So if that's the case-" Sensei Wu kicked the pizza out of his hand. "Ow!" Cole complained. "No pizza for you!" Sensei Wu snapped. "In order to reach your full potential, you must train!" Kai looked at him, confused, before smirking. "Uh... remember when we did a little thing called the _Tornado of Creation?_ I though that was pretty insane." Sensei Wu sighed, shaking his head as he speaks. "You four have merely scratched the surface of your full potential. There are still so many secrets you have yet to unlock! You haven't even begun to tap into what powers your Golden Weapons hold." He pointed to Kai's sword, where some pizza was burning on the glowing sword. Jay gasped. "Holy shit Kai!" Kai openly gaped at it, Zane looked mildly surprised, and Cole just stared. Cole shook his head, saw the TV again, and grinned. "You wanna talk secret powers? Check this out." He used his scythe and picked up the plug, and after failing twice, he managed to get the TV plug back in. The video game turned back on, showing that it had been paused, and the other ninja quickly resumed playing. Sensei Wu pulled on his beard in frustration, and groaned at the ninja's antics. Zane, hearing the groan, turned to Sensei Wu with a determined face. Sensei Wu didn't know if that was because of the video game, or the training. "Don't worry master. We will be ready when Lord Garmadon returns." He turned back to his game, and at that moment, Nya, Kai's younger sister, ran in, out of breath. "Guys! Lord Garmadon! He's returned! He was spotted approaching Jamanakai Village!" 

The ninja quickly got up, panicking, to get their weapons and gi for the mission. Kai and Cole tripped over each other, Jay couldn't find his nun-chucks, and Zane tripped over Kai and Cole. Sensei Wu face-palmed, and Nya found Jay's nun-chucks and handed them to him. Jay blushed, and tried to reply. "Er-th-thanks uh-uh uh," he stuttered. "Hurry!" Nya said panicking. Jay was shaken out of his stupor and nodded. "Okay!" The ninja got their stuff together and ran to the dragon stables. Zane ran across only to get hit in the head by Kai dropping the door for his dragon. Zane groaned, shook his head, then ran over to Shard, the ice dragon. When mounting Rocky, Cole dropped his scythe. He unmounted, grabbed it, then climbed back on. Jay attempted to flip onto Wisp to impress Nya, but went over the dragon and landed in Wisp's water bucket. Kai attempted to mount Flame, while Nya watched. "Uh.. can I help?" she asked, as Kai struggled to get on. "Sorry, sis. Where we go, danger abounds. This is a job for the ninja." Kai tried to get the reins on Flame, but couldn't reach them, as they had fallen in front of the saddle. "Uh.. uh.. a little help?" He asked his sister, nervously laughing. Nya rolled her eyes while shaking her head, but gave him the reins. The four ninja flew off on their dragons, heading towards Jamanakai Village. Nya frowned, watching them, and turned to Sensei Wu. "Will they ever reach their full potential?" She asked, seeing how out of shape they were. Sensei Wu shook his head. "In time. Maybe a long time, but in time." 

********************

Lloyd was having a pretty shitty day. First he got kicked out of his school, Darkly's School for Bad Boys, because he wasn't _bad _enough. He was the fucking son of Lord _Garmadon! _Evil ran through his _blood! _Now, he was living on the streets because he had nowhere to go. His father had been banished to the Underworld, then got fucking out, but his Uncle and the fucking _ninja _stopped his dad from taking over Ninjago, and now his dad was in some vortex! He was never gonna get to see him again! His mom, well, who _knows _where she went. All Lloyd knew was that she had left him at Darkly's when he was really little. Lloyd _probably _could go live with his uncle, but his uncle was the reason he didn't have parents, so no, he wasn't going to live with him. Lloyd was a _bad _kid, he knew it, hell, _everyone _probably knew it, so what was the point in even trying to be good? Lloyd wondered what a good way to scare people into following him. He realized that there were two things that scared a ton of people. Spiders, and snakes. He didn't have any rubber spiders on his person, those, and most of his stuff, were all at Darkly's still. He mentally groaned. All he had were a few cans of rubber snakes that he carried at all times, and a few of his weapons. Well, the few that he carried everywhere. He tried to remember if there were any legends he could use to scare people, because 1. He was hungry, 2. He was Evil, 3. He had no money. So stealing or scaring it was. Lloyd was actually pretty good at stealing, but no one would be scared of a kid. He glanced down at his clothes. All he had on was his Darkly's school uniform. So, new clothes was first. So he left the cave he had been living-no, _hiding _in. 

Lloyd sneaked into the clothing store, and waited until the lady who ran the store had her back turned. He browsed around until he found something he liked. There were some dark black pants that he slipped on quietly, and a pretty cool hoodie. It was black, with white in the shape of a skeleton. There was a green five, and a small design on the collar of the same green. Lloyd put that on too, then saw a black cape. He could easily hide more weapons in that! He put that on, then left the store. He was so small that the lady running the store had no idea that he had stolen. When he got back to his cave, he noticed his Darkly uniform still had the purple belt, so he took that and put it on his new pants. He went over to a small lake that was near his cave, and looked at his reflection. Lloyd grinned. He looked _really cool!_ He went back to his cave and sewed some false fronts into his new clothes and hid some of his blades in them. He still had his two katanas to hide, so he strapped them to his back, where they were hidden by his new cape. He grabbed a few cans of snakes, and left for Jamanakai Village. 

**********************

Unaware of what was happening with Lloyd, the ninja were flying to Jamanakai Village. They were in the air, and Cole was glad he had finally gotten over his phobia of dragons. "Just like old times, eh Rocky?" he grinned, asking his dragon. Rocky grunted, and Cole smirked at the rest of the ninja. "...You guys believe what Sensei said about unlocking out full potential?" Kai asked the rest of them. Jay shrugged, but nodded. "He may be onto something. I mean since we got these Golden Weapons, it's not like we've ever had to use them. I wonder what they do." Zane gave a small smile at the Lightning Ninja, and replied. "I for one look forward to the future. If there's more for us to accomplish, let it be." Cole thought for a minute, then shrugged. "Don't know about you, but is anyone else a little excited about battling Lord Garmadon? I've been looking forward to trying out some new Spinjitzu moves. Could be the perfect opportunity." Jay grinned at Cole, then nudged Wisp. "Haha, Race ya there?" He and Wisp bolted forward, Kai and Flame on their tail. Cole and Zane looked at each other, then Rocky and Shard zipped after them. 

The ninja flew through the air, each trying to get there first. Kai saw the village first, then called out to the rest of the ninja. "Jamanakai Village... First ninja there wins!" They raced towards the village, Cole getting the lead, but getting knocked out of the way by Jay, who was pushed back by Kai, and then Zane flew around them, gaining the lead, but they all sped up, until they all landed. Kai pumped his arms up. "Haha! I was first!" Jay shook his head. "Hell No! No one was faster than me!" Cole laughed. "Hahaha, my feet were down before yours!" Zane disagreed. "You were all disillusioned! It was clearly me!" They were interrupted by screaming. They looked up, and saw villagers running into their homes, and a dark shadow appeared. Childish laughter echoed after that. Kai got out his sword, Jay his nun-chucks, Cole his scythe, and Zane his shurikens. But as the shadow got closer, it got... smaller? Kai narrowed his eyes. "Stay sharp, fellas. Whatever happens, never let your guard down." Jay rolled his eyes. "Fellas? You are a fucking idiot Kai. That's the best you can do?" Zane elbowed him, and Jay shut up. The shadow turned around and...

It was a young boy. Maybe ten years old, give or take. He was wearing a skeleton hoodie, black pants, and a cape. The kid jumped onto a fountain with surprising agility, and declared "It is I, Lloyd Garmadon! I demand all the candy in town... or else!" Jay groaned. "_Lloyd _Garmadon? I thought we were gonna face _Lord _Garmadon." Cole squinted, then blinked. "It's his son." Jay grunted, displeased that they weren't fighting the Dark Lord. "Looks like he escaped his boarding school for bad boys again. And to think we could have been doing Spinjitzu already." Lloyd faltered. "Uh... uh... gimmie your candy, or else I'll release the Serpentine on you!" The villagers started booing at him, then throwing vegetables. Lloyd growled, then ducked under them. "Fuck no! I asked for candy, not vegetables! I hate vegetables!" The villagers were throwing more, so he growled again, then pulled two small blades out of his sweatshirt. "Give me the candy!" The villagers kept throwing the vegetables, and Lloyd started slicing them as they came at him, somehow getting them all. "He's like the fruit ninja in the video game!" Jay laughed. "He's gonna have to do a lot better than use an old bedtime story to scare people." Kai said, frowning. Zane shook his head. "The Serpentine are real, Kai. They're not something to joke about." Kai rolled his eyes. "Serpentine? Real? We're talking about the ancient race of snake people who once ruled Ninjago and were supposedly locked underground?" Jay nodded, his voice getting higher pitched and faster. "Sealed in five different tombs to separate the worrying tribes and ensure they don't unify to exact their revenge upon those who put them there!" Kai shook his head. "It was an old wives tale, to teach kids not to poke our noses in other people's shit. Don't you think it's a little suspicious that no one's _ever _found one of the tombs?" Cole shuddered. "Well that's because you'd be a fool to look for one! If there was anything I hated more than dragons, it was snakes. Rubber or not."

The ninja came near Lloyd, who leapt at them, slashing with his blades. Kai quickly blocked, and Jay attempted to sneak up on the kid from behind, only to get slashed at. Zane used his shurikens, trying to freeze Lloyd's feet, only to trip as Lloyd slid under him. Cole used his scythe, attempting to make rocks to trip the kid, but got it stuck in the ground. The kid back flipped over Jay, and pushed him into Kai, who dropped his sword. The kid smirked at them, then climbed on top of Cole, and pushed him over. The kid took a step back, and admired his work. Kai was on the ground, Jay was on top of him. Cole had fallen over next to where his scythe was stuck in the ground, and Zane... where was Zane? He whipped around, only to get punched in the face by the Ice Ninja. Lloyd flew into a wall, and slumped to the ground. Kai, Jay, and Cole got up, and Kai put Lloyd on his shoulder. The ninja walked past the villagers, who were still booing Lloyd. "Don't worry, folks, we'll take care of this. Nothing to see here." They kept walking, with Lloyd squirming in Kai's grip. "Let-GO!" Lloyd yelped, and Kai just held him tighter. "Bow down to me, or, suffer my wrath! I'll give you the count of three! One! Two!" Kai raised an eyebrow at the other ninja. None of them really knew how to deal with children. "What are we supposed to do? Spank him?" Kai suggested. Lloyd squirmed again. "Two and a half..." 

The ninja had decided to put him on a sign, covered with food, again, unaware the amount of blades Lloyd had, and that he could hold a grudge for _years. _Like hoe Brad put fire ants in his bed. Brad had mysteriously gotten bed bugs 4 times every year since. Lloyd attempted to get off the sign without revealing how armed he was, but with no luck. Rule One at Darkly's: Never reveal how armed you are, it could save your life, or kill your enemies. Lloyd decided to try being scary again. "You just made me your nemesis! Mark my words, you'll pay for this!" He screamed. Everyone was laughing at him, and the ninja had the nerve to taunt him by buying candy. Cole grinned at him. "Next time, try paying for your candy." Kai smirked. "Crime doesn't pay muchacho. You can take that to the bank." Jay joined in. "Mmm... cotton candy." Lloyd narrowed his eyes. "You. Will. Pay." He whispered, eyes flashing gold. Suddenly, a house in the distance was on fire. Kai turned around, but the fire was out. He shrugged assuming he was just seeing things. 

The ninja got their dragons ready to go home. As Kai mounted Flame, he kicked the bag by accident, and a scroll fell out. Zane picked it up as Kai jumped back down. "Huh? I don't remember putting this here." Kai muttered. "That's Sensei's bag. You must have grabbed it in the rush." Zane said, logical as always. Kai snatched the scroll from Zane and unrolled it. Jay looked over Kai's shoulder. "What the hell is that?" Cole looked at Jay with an eyebrow raised. "It's a scroll, windbag." Jay rolled his eyes. "I know it's a scroll, but what the fuck does it say? It's written in fucking chicken scratch." Zane rolled his eyes. "Not chicken scratch. The ancient language of our ancestors." Kai glared at him. "Uh yeah... but can you _read _it?" Zane narrowed his eyes. "Well, I can try." He squinted at the scroll. Zane pointed to a symbol. "This symbol means... prophecy." Jay frowned. "Prophecy?" Cole wacked Jay's head. "It means it tells the future." Jay laughed. "'Course. Haha. I knew that." Cole rolled his eyes. "Sure ya did." he muttered. Zane squinted at the scroll again. "On ninja... will rise above the others... and become the Green Ninja. The ninja destined... to defeat the Dark Lord." Jay gasped. "Oooh look! A picture!" The scroll showed five ninja, one blue with nun-chucks, one red with a sword, a white one with shurikens, one black with a scythe, and one green in the center. The green one was drawn larger than the others. Cole studied it for a minute. "Dark Lord? Hold on... you think they mean Lord Garmadon?" Kai suddenly looked up. "Wait a minute! Is that us? Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Like how good I'm gonna look in green?" Jay asked. 

"Ha! Isn't it obvious I'm gonna be the Green Ninja?" Kai replied. 

"The color obviously suits me!" Jay snapped.

"Technically, I am the best." Zane decided to chime in. "Everyone, stop it! Remember why Sensei brought us together in the first place. We're a team. We weren't meant to see this and probably for a good reason. Come on, let's head back home. We have training to do." Cole said, climbing onto Rocky. Jay sighed, also climbing Wisp. "It's about time I added some finesse to my routine." Zane nodded, mounting his dragon. "Well, I could use the exercise." Cole smiled at them. "Yeah, I've gotta work on some new moves." Kai mounted Flame, everyone except Kai took off. Kai took one last look at Jamanakai Village. "Could I be the Green Ninja?" He asked himself. Kai shook his head, then nudged Flame into taking off. 

********************

Lloyd waited until everyone left, done laughing at the poor kid stuck on the sign, he grabbed one of his small blades and undid the knot in his cape keeping him on the sign. As he felt his cape loosen, he grabbed the sign with his hands, and flipped on top of it. Realizing what the sign was, Lloyd groaned and buried his face in his hands. Really?! They _had _to tie him to the sign that was shaped like a _baby?!_ No _normal _sign would work, it had to be a _baby!_ He rolled his eyes. He jumped off the roof, then looked around. Nothing of any interest. The ninja were lucky they hadn't ripped his new cape, or he would kill them. Literally, they would be dead. He started walking.

A few hours later, he ended up at the Glacier Barrens. That's what the sign said, anyway. Lloyd kicked a rock. "Fucking Ninja. I'll show them who they're dealing with." he muttered. Lloyd kicked the rock again, and this time it made a _clang _when it landed. Lloyd looked up. He went over to where the rock landed and began clearing the snow. "Hey, what is-" he gasped. It was a snake face carved into the rock. There was a lever near it, and being a kid with curiosity and no self esteem, he pushed it. The floor dropped out and Lloyd screamed as he fell. He landed in an icy cave and his hood fell off. He quickly pushed it back up, and got to his feet. It was a tomb of the Serpentine. He wondered which one, when he heard hissing. Lloyd turned around to see a giant snake behind him, with blue and white scales and a staff. The snake hisses. "You are out of your mind to venture so far away from home, little one." Lloyd backed away, and the snake slithered forward, tail flicking, and it's red eyes seemed to draw Lloyd's focus. The snake hissed again. "Look into my eyessss... Give up your mind.... I will control you..." Lloyd's mind fogged, and then he slipped on the ice. The snake's hypnotizing powers worked against him as he saw his reflection in the ice. Lloyd realized it, and grinned. "Heh, heh... No. _I _will control _you _from now on." The snake bowed it's head. "What shall you have usss do, Massster?" Lloyd blinked. "Us?" Hundreds of snakes slithered out from caverns. Lloyd smirked. "My own army of snakes!" He started laughing. 

********************

The ninja flew back to the monastery. They landed their dragons, and un-saddled them, then closed their stable doors. Jay smiled at them, a slightly vicious smile, but a smile. "So then we all agree. The prophecy states that one of us will become the Green Ninja, and the issue will not rest until it is decided." Zane got an idea. "May I suggest a tournament? Last ninja standing is the best." Kai grinned. "And we'll be declared the Green Ninja! I love it!" They opened the doors to the training area to see it in use. Nya ran on one of the treadmills, flipped off of it, then began punching the punching back. She ducked under the mechanical robots who were slashing at her with katanas, then leaped to her feet and jumped over a few logs. Nya knocked down another robot, but didn't see the one behind it, and was hit in the head with the side of an ax. She fell to the ground, and the ninja walked over to her. Jay peered at her, still blushing. "Hey, Nya. Closer to beating your brother's speed record?" He asked shyly. Nya got to her feet and grinned at them. "I'm getting there. Heard what happened in town. Just a false alarm?" The groan that came from Cole answered her question. "Yeah. Uh, but we're gonna need the space. Sorry, sis." Kai said, glancing at her. She shrugged. Cole walked over to the armor cabinet, and pulled out helmets and and pads. He threw one at- sorry, _to _Jay, _accidentally _hitting him in the head. Cole turned to them, already wearing the armor. "Two matches. Then the winners of each face off for the title. Armors for our own protection." Cole glanced at his scythe. "It's time to see what these babies can do!" Kai smirked at his sister. "Hey Nya, wanna stay and watch me mop the floor with them?" Nya grimaced at Kai. "No, thanks. I think I'll just visit Jamanakai Village. Knock yourselves out, but try not to kill each other. I'm not cleaning up bodies." With that, she left. Cole stood up. "Alright! First up: Kai versus Jay! Ninja.... GO!" 

Jay rushed forwards, knocking Cole over. He swung his nun-chucks, aiming at Kai's head, but Kai's sword met it. "Damn." Jay grunted. Kai smirked at him. Jay spun his nun-chucks fast enough to make lightning. But then it became too _much _lightning. Jay shocked himself, then fell to the ground, ears ringing. "So that's what this feels like..." he groaned. Kai blinked, then laughed. Then he jumped at Jay while he was on the ground, sword poised. "Shit!" Jay yelped. He rolled out of the way and jumped to his feet. Kai slashed at him, his sword glowing. Jay's nun-chucks met the sword, and they fired lightning and fire at each other. Zane started reading a book, and Cole was staring at a wall. Kai managed to hit Jay in the stomach with a fireball and Jay fell to the ground and didn't get back up. Kai pointed his sword at Jay and won the match. Kai grinned. "Next up: Cole versus Zane!" Jay sighed and then got up. He slumped against the wall and picks up the book Zane was reading. Kai put his hand in the air and dropped it. "Ninja... GO!" Kai jumped back to where Jay was sitting as Zane attacked. He froze one of Cole's legs, so Cole couldn't move. Zane attacked him with his shurikens, but Cole used his scythe to block all the attacks. He pushed Zane back and when Zane was back a few feet, Cole used his scythe to break the ice. Zane threw one of his shurikens at Cole and Cole knocked it out of the air. Cole tripped Zane with his scythe and Zane fell flat on his back, and Cole quickly pointed his weapon at his neck, winning the match. 

Zane got up and sat next to Jay, who looked up from the book. Jay handed the book to Zane, then rolled his eyes. "For the prize and the title of best ninja, blah blah.." Jay waved his arm. "Ninja Go." Kai slashed his sword towards Cole, who parried with his scythe. They had a small duel while Zane read his book and Jay watched with a bored expression. Kai jumped as Cole swung, Cole rolled as Kai slashed. Cole ended up using his scythe to shake the earth and knock Kai over, and immediately pointing his scythe at him. "YES!" Cole shouted as Zane and Jay cheered. Kai jumped to his feet, but his sword lit on fire. Kai's hand started burning, and he could smell his gloves on fire. "It's too h-hot!" he yelled. Zane gasped. "It's burning!" Jay and Cole turned around. "FIRE!!" Jay shrieked. Kai dropped his sword because of the heat burning his hands. He unfortunately dropped it on one of the wooden training logs, which quickly lit on fire. The ninja gaped as the monastery caught on fire.

Sensei Wu, smelling the smoke rushed outside to see his students staring at Kai's sword that had lit the monastery on fire. He flipped over to Zane, took his Ice Shurikens, then used them to make it snow lightly over the fires. Once the fire was out, he turned to his students, furious. "What were you _thinking?!"_ Jay gulped. "Uh.. we were trying to figure out who was the Green Ninja..." Zane reached over and slapped his head. Jay yelped, then realized what he said, and quickly backtracked. "Ah.. did I say _Green _Ninja? No, sorry," Jay cleared his throat, "What I- what I said was... lean! Lean Ninja! Uh..." Sensei Wu realized that they had seen the scroll, and mentally slapped himself for leaving it out. He noticed that they were all looking at the floor or their feet, and decided to say something. "You were not supposed to see that." The ninja looked up, looking sheepish, until Kai came forward. "But Sensei, we wanna know. Which one of us is the chosen one?" Zane, Cole, and Jay looked at Kai with a "WTF??" expression. "Dude!" Jay hissed. "None of you, if you don't unlock your full potential!" Kai gaped at him. "But my sword, it was so bright! Is this what you meant by unlocking our Golden Weapons?" Sensei Wu shook his head. "You are only at the beginning. And the road is long and winding, but yes, this is what I meant. If this is what it must take for you to train, then so be it. But none of you are near the level of what it takes to be the Green Ninja." Sensei Wu turned and walked back into the monastery, hoping to continue meditating. The ninja stood their, trying to decipher what he meant. "Why does he have to be so cryptic?" Jay complained. "Can't he just say 'No, but you could be if you train' instead of crazy metaphors and long speeches?" Cole rolled his eyes. Zane raised an eyebrow, and Kai shrugged. "This is _Sensei _we are talking about. I think it's his job to do that." 

********************

Nya walked around Jamanakai Village, and was startled to hear screams of panic and terror. People were running into their homes and locking the doors. Nya sighed. "What now?" She turned towards the town center and gasped. Lloyd was back, and he had... _Serpentine?!?!?! _They were real!?!? Lloyd was leading the attack, with a snake next to him. Nya wracked her memories of the Serpentine, and noticed the staff the snake with a tail had. So that one was the General. She noticed the blue markings and the red eyes, and realized that they were Hypnobrai. Nya quickly ducked into an alley and watched. When she heard the rattle of the tail, she watched a villager look into one of the Hypnobrai's eyes and go under their spell. "Take the candy! Take it all!" Lloyd yelled. Nya rolled her eyes. He had seriously gone through all of this for _candy?!? _

One of the snakes, Lloyd thought his name was Skales, walked up to General Slithraa. He pretended to still be commanding, but was really listening to their conversation. "Thisss makesss no sssenssse, General. Raiding an entire town for _sssweetsss?" _Lloyd was annoyed. The sweets were important, yes, but he was really doing it to strike fear into the hearts of the civilians, and to show the shitty-ass ninja who they were dealing with. He glanced towards one of the sheds, where he had been holding hostages. He looked back to see General Slithraa rear up and snap at Skales. "You will do asss I command, becaussse I hold the ssstaff!" Lloyd smirked at the fact that the General was still under his control. With the General under his control, the other Hypnobrai had to listen to Lloyd. He took out his katanna, then ordered the snakes to have the hypnotized people stand at the edges of the village, preventing people from getting in. 

********************

The ninja were _actually _practicing with their weapons while Sensei Wu was meditating. He closed his eyes and breathed. He opened them, and looked through the Spirit Smoke. Sensei Wu gasped. It showed his nephew, Lloyd, commanding an army of Serpentine. Lloyd had a katanna in hand, and was screaming. "Where did he get that sword?" Sensei Wu asked himself. He shook his head when he saw the people being hypnotized in the smoke. He rushed into the training area to find the ninja. "The Serpentine are back! Everyone in Jamanakai Village is in danger!" Sensei Wu hurriedly exclaimed. Cole frowned. "Calm down, Sensei, we were just there. It was some kid who says he's-" 

"The Spirit Smoke does not lie!" Sensei Wu interrupted. Kai gasped. "Nya's there right now!" Jay's jaw dropped. "Nya? If that kid has done anything to harm her-" Sensei Wu sighed. "Another thing. Why didn't you tell me he had a sword?" Jay snapped. "YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT A SWORD WHEN NYA'S IN FUCKING DANGER?!" Zane pulled on Jay's arm. "He is just concerned on where a child could have gotten a sword. As for Nya, we must go help her." Jay calmed down, and the ninja rushed towards the dragon stables. Jay leaped on Wisp, Zane climbed onto Shard, Cole jumped on Rocky, and Kai quickly dropped the doors before mounting Flame. As they flew off, Kai turned to the other ninja. "Stay close. Stay together." Cole smiled at him. "Would we do it any other way?" 

The ninja unmounted their dragons when they arrived at Jamanakai Village. The villagers were running and screaming, trying to avoid the Serpentine, and Kai noticed Lloyd. "There he is!" he whispered to the other ninja. "I ain't never coming down from this sugar high! WOO-WHO!" Zane narrowed his eyes. "He doesn't look armed..." Cole looked at the others. Jay nodded. The ninja leaped in front of Lloyd. Cole smirked at him. "Sorry to bust your buzz, little Garmadon..." Jay continued for him, "But it's already past your bedtime!" All the ninja saw was a flash and then Lloyd had two katannas in hand. "GET THEM!" he yelled, pointing one of his blades at the ninja. General Slithraa rattled his tail. "Sssieze them!" Kai's jaw dropped. "The Serpentine? They're real?" Cole grimaced. "It's not just them we have to worry about. The whole village has been hypnotized." The ninja turned, and realized they were surrounded. The hypnotized villagers were behind them, and the Serpentine were in front of them, along with Lloyd, who had the biggest shit-eating grin ever. Jay pulled out his nun-chucks, ready to use them, but Zane grabbed his arm. "No! Our weapons are too unstable! We could do more harm than good!" Jay looked around. "Well fuck... I guess that leaves us with RUN!" The ninja rushed behind a building, panting. Suddenly, a shadow passed over them, and they all got ready to attack when... "Nya! You're okay!" Jay exclaimed happily. Nya flipped down to them from off the roof. She grimaced. "Barely. They've hypnotized everyone in town." Jay gaped. "Mind control? How is this possible?" 

"When you hear them rattle their tails, don't look 'em in the eyes. That's how they get you."

"Well, what are we supposed to do? We can't use our fucking weapons, and now we gotta fight with our eyes closed? Huh, shit."

"The snake with the staff is the General. He's the one in charge. If we can get the staff from him, it holds the anti-venom. If we get that, we can save everyone."

"Look, guys." Kai interrupted them. "Forget about the whole Green Ninja thing. Let's make Sensei proud. The four of us. We're a fucking team, for god's sake's!" Cole, Zane, and Jay nodded. "Now you're talking." Cole grinned. Jay turned to Nya. "Oh, and Nya, you can be our honorary member." Nya rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks..." she said sarcastically.

The ninja (and Nya) quickly went back to the town, Kai being the first to get there. Two Hypnobrai come up behind him, and Kai smirks under his mask. "You wanna play? How about a little Spinjitzu? Ninjaaa GO!" He spun around and created a mini tornado of his body, complete with flames from his fire sword, and flung the Serpentine away from him. Kai suddenly lost control of it and spun into a wall, and sat down, dizzy. Jay winced watching him. "Okay, we're really out of shape..." Lloyd laughed at them. "HA! Consider this a warning, Ninja!" Lloyd whipped around and started running for the town entrance. Zane rushed forwards and flung one of his ice shurikens at him. It froze Lloyd's foot and Lloyd couldn't run anymore. "Ninjaa GO!" Zane yelled and approached him using Spinjitzu. Zane narrowed his eyes at the kid. "Sensei was right. Never put off for tomorrow what can be done today. We should've dealt with you the first time around." Lloyd glared at him. "But 'ya didn't. Didja get in _trouble???" _Zane rolled his eyes. Kids were annoying. "And what do ya mean, 'dealt with' me? It's none of your business what I do!" Zane raised an eyebrow. "It is our business when you threaten others. And it _is _your Uncle's, Our Sensei's, business." Lloyd seethed at that. "I **_hate _**my uncle, 'kay! It ain't none of his business what I do! He can go fuck himself if he thinks otherwise!" Zane was startled. Did the kid really hate Sensei Wu that much? Then he blinked as he heard the ice shatter. He looked down, and saw that Lloyd was running towards the General. "RETREAT!" Lloyd shrieked. The General nodded seeing the ninja on Lloyd's tail, and yelled to his officers. "RETREAT!" He commanded. 

The Serpentine warriors started running, but Cole stopped General Slithraa by kicking him in the chest. General Slithraa dropped his staff, and Cole narrowed his eyes. "Go ahead. Give me a reason." Cole hissed to him. The general slithers away, and Cole grabs the staff. When he looks up, Skales is right in front of him. Cole heard a rattle, and tried to fight the urge to look into Skale's eyes, but it was no use. Cole looked into his red eyes. "Look into my eyesss... I control you..." the snake hissed. Cole's mind fogged. "You... control..." Nya came from out of no where and kicked Skales back. She snapped her fingers in front of Cole. "Cole! You have the anti-venom!" Cole blinked, then looked at the staff in his hand. "Holy shit, your right!" Nya looked around, then pointed. "Quick, the fountain!" She exclaimed. Cole nodded. "Good idea!" Cole set the staff down in the fountain, and the anti-venom mixed with the water and made a mist that released the villagers from the hypnosis. The villagers all sighed with relief as soon as they were themselves again. Sensei Wu walked up to the ninja. "Where did he come from? How did he get here so fast?" Jay hissed to Zane. Zane just shrugged. Kai walked forward. "We're sorry Sensei. If we had dealt with Lloyd before he became a problem, none of this would have been necessary." Sensei Wu sighed, frowning. "Even lessons learned the hard way, are lessons learned. Hmm... a great evil has been released. I fear troubling times will come. This is only the beginning." Zane nodded. "Then we will train, and be ready for the Serpentine." Cole crossed his arms. "It may not be Lord Garmadon, but that doesn't mean we won't bring our A-game." Kai put his hands together in a pleading motion. "Help us train. Help us realize our potential." Jay pumped his arm up. "Yeah! Teach us the secrets behind the weapons of Spinjitzu!" Sensei Wu nodded, still frowning. "Hmm... there is much to teach. We must return to the monastery." As the ninja, Nya, and Sensei Wu began walking towards the dragons, Nya turned to Sensei Wu. She sighed. "When am I gonna get my own dragon?" Sensei Wu laughed. "Patience, Nya. Your time will come." 

********************

Lloyd and the Hypnobrai went back to the tomb. The snakes went to one corner, and Lloyd went to one of the ice caverns. "Ugh... candy... I need candy..." he groaned loudly. When he heard the grumbles of the snakes, he knew they believed him. All of them still thought he was just some stupid kid. He wasn't. Lloyd was going to get the Serpentine to find take over Ninjago, then bring his dad back to see it. He crept up behind Skales and General Slithraa, and hid behind an ice stalagmite. "The boy ssset us free," Slithraa hissed. "He isss a child! He'sss not one of usss..." Skales insisted. Slithraa rose to his full height. "I may not have the ssstaff... but I am ssstill your General! Ssstand down!" Lloyd tried to contain his giggle at Slithraa's reprimand. He wandered over to Slithraa and asked innocently if there was a problem. Skales hissed under his breath, but went over to a different soldier. "You coward. We all know he isss under Lloyd'sss ssspell. You are sssecond in command, and ssstill you do nothing?" Skales looked over his shoulder to make sure the child wasn't listening. "Now wasss not the time. I ssstill hold the key to dessstroy the ninja. And when I do that, everyone will sssee that it isss I who should be in control." 

********************

Back at the monastery, the ninja were eating dinner. Cole's mind fogged, then his eyes suddenly turned red, opening a window for Skales to see what the ninja were doing from Cole's point of view. The ninja didn't notice, and when Cole's eyes changed back and his mind cleared, he had forgotten the whole thing.


	2. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Episode 2: Home  
The ninja train, Sensei Wu wonders where he went wrong with Lloyd, Lloyd reveals part of his plan to take over Ninjago, and probably scares some snakes.
> 
> Headcannons: Darkley's school taught Lloyd how to fight, bc ya know, evil lords will kinda need to know. Lloyd hides his weapons really well, also. They didn't care so much about grammar or spelling or language, so Lloyd is really bad at anything ELA related. Wu also tried to get Lloyd out of Darkley's (Lloyd doesn't know that) but failed bc he wasn't Lloyd's "legal guardian" and the school "didn't exist" so Wu couldn't get the police involved. (In this Wu is technically the guardian to all the ninja, including Nya, and later Lloyd)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeey people! Guess who isn't dead! Me! I am really sorry that I'm- *looks at date* a few months late on this... but I don't have a good reason either! I just kinda forgot about it and I had a shit ton of work, but I'm on winter break for another week, so Imma try to crank out another chapter if I can.

_ Long before time had a name, The First Spinjitzu Master created Ninjago using four elemental weapons. _

_ But when he passed, a dark sought out to collect them all- Lord Garmadon. _

_ So I, Sensei Wu, his brother, sought out to find four ninja to collect them first. _

_ _ Sensei Wu sat in is room, meditating on the facts Zane had told him after his little 'conversation' with Lloyd. Apparently, Lloyd hated him, and didn't think it was his 'business' what happened to Lloyd. Lloyd was, understandably, pissed about being stuck at Darkly's for so long. What Lloyd didn't know, is that Wu had tried to get custody of Lloyd, at least enough to get him out of that god-awful school, but the school "didn't exist" because the teachers paid people to pretend it wasn't there. Sensei Wu tried to figure out what to do with his wayward nephew. Also, what had he learned at the hell-hole of a school? Kai said that two swords had seemingly appeared out of nowhere on him, then disappeared just as quickly. The sensei tried to figure out who would even give a child swords?! He remembered that Jay said that Lloyd had had two smaller blades during the first attack... so he had somehow had at least four weapons, possibly more. Yet Lloyd didn't appear to be armed. Sensei Wu closed his eyes and tried to meditate more. "My turn! Uh, it's my turn!" Kai's voice yelled. "You want a little more, take this!" Cole shouted. Sensei Wu opened his eyes, and stood up. Were the ninja playing their ninja video game again? "Oh yeah? How about a little of  _ this?"  _ Jay screamed. Sensei Wu looked down, and his hand closed around the sacred flute. Memories played in his brain, of the Serpentine Wars, of locking the Serpentine in tombs, of his  _ brother,  _ and he stopped. Now was not the time to long for the old days. He glanced at his flute again, the memories threatening to come back. 

"Monkey Paw to the head!" Kai screeched and Sensei Wu stood up. "Ninja, roll!" Cole commanded. Sensei Wu sighed, and put the flute away. He walked towards the video game room, and was surprised to see it empty. "Dragon Punch!" Jay cheered. Sensei Wu went to the training yard, and lo and behold, the ninja were  _ actually  _ training. Jay jumped around, blocking arrows with his nun-chucks. Cole attacked one of the training dummies, knocking it over with his scythe. Kai was on one side of the training yard doing Spinjitzu, while Zane sat on the ground... meditating? "Ninja... GO!" Kai shouted, spinning faster. Zane suddenly leaped to his feet and jumped in front of Jay. Jay yelped, jumping away. "Hey! What the hell!?" Zane ignored him, choosing instead to rip the Earth Scythe from Cole, obliterating the training dummy. Cole growled at him. "What the fuck man?!" Zane dropped the scythe and ran over to Kai, yelling "Ninja GO!" and doing Spinjitzu, cutting Kai off. Zane's ice froze the ground, causing Kai to fall. "WOAH! Oof.." Kai groaned as he hit the floor. Jay helped Kai up, and they stalked over to Cole. Kai glared at Zane. "This roof isn't big enough for the four of us..." Kai said, narrowing his eyes. "Correction: The roof isn't big enough for  _ him. _ " Cole growled out. Jay rolled his eyes. "It's like he's in his own little world." he raised his voice. "I _ bet he can't even hear us!" _ Sensei Wu approached the three annoyed ninja. Kai looked at him. "Sensei, Zane's... weird." Wu raised an eyebrow. "What is weird? Someone who is different, or someone who is different  _ from you _ ?" Cole shook his head. "No, Sensei. He's  _ weird _ , weird."

_ Cole sat on the toilet, reading a newspaper, when Zane came in, starting to brush his hair. Cole looked up. "HEY! Do you mind?!" Cole yelped, embarrassed.  _

_ Jay and Nya sat on the couch, leaning into each other, watching a romantic movie. Zane sat at the far end, watching it intently. "Goodbye.. my love" the female actress whispered. Nya burst into tears and Jay patted her shoulder, crying slightly, when they heard laughter. They looked up, and Zane pointed at the actress, laughing. Jay and Nya just looked at him in shock and horror. _

_ Kai woke up in the middle of the night, and was kinda hungry. He opened the fridge, and jumped back, yelping. Zane sat in the fridge eating a sandwich. "HOLY BALONEY!" Kai whisper-yelped. "Why the hell are you in the fridge??!" Zane frowned. "I am sorry, I consumed the rest of the deli meat. Cheese?" He asked, holding up a block of cheese. "Why are you in the fucking fridge?!" Kai whispered again. "I was hungry." Zane said.  _

Kai sighed. "We like the guy. He's really smart. He's just..." he trailed off, seeing Zane stare off into space. "... a little off sometimes." Kai finished. Wu sighed. "Zane is a brother and brothers are often different. I should know." The ground suddenly became very interesting as Wu's students began studying it, remembering Garmadon and how he was Wu's older brother. They heard a knock, and Kai, Cole, and Jay rushed towards the monastery doors. "MAIL!" They cheered. The postman glanced back, mentally groaning at all the stairs he just climbed. He panted, then started digging in his bag. "Let's see... A letter from Jay's parents..." he said, giving Jay an envelope. He reached back, and pulled out another letter. "Kai has a fan letter..." Kai snatched it from his hand and skipped away. The postman found another letter, looked at the label, and gave it to Cole. "Oh, something from Cole's father!" Cole took it, then frowned. "What? No package? I'm expecting something from Creature's Beasts and Beyond." The postman shook his head. "No. Nothing from..." He reached into the bag, feeling for the package. "Uh-uh... Here it it!" He said triumphantly, pulling out the package to hand to Cole. Cole grinned, taking it. "Rocky's gonna love this!" The postman waved and left, taking his bag. The ninja shut the door, and Zane walked away sadly. Jay walked over to him. "Hey, Zane. How come you never hear anything from your parents?" Zane looked at the ground, unshed tears brimming in his eyes at the thought. "I don't remember my parents. I've been an... orphan... my whole life." Kai looked at Zane, a depressed look on his face. "You mean... you've never had a home?" Zane nodded timidly. Kai's hand when up to his mouth when he realized he and the other ninja had just been making fun of him, and being all around bitches. Sensei Wu smiled faintly at the fact that Kai had become a little better of a ninja, and a better brother to Zane after hearing that. He placed a hand on Zane's shoulder. "The Monastery is your home now." Zane gave him a small smile, then went to the ninja's shared room.

Cole jumped down from the cabinet, grabbing Rocky's bowl. He opened the package he got, completely unaware of what was happening outside. "Liver and toads, Rocky, your favorite!" He put the bowl down in front of the dragon, and Rocky ate it very quickly. "Mm-hmm..." Cole then blinked, head fogged. His eyes turned to the same color as the Hypnobrai's eyes, but was blissfully unaware of the fact that Skales was using him to spy on the ninja.

********************

Skales watched as the Earth ninja watched his dragon... Rocky, was it? eat it's food. He showed Rattla, one of the other scouts. "I can't believe you hypnotizzzed one of the ninja. Doesss the General know?" Skales rolled his eyes. "Of courssse not. He'sss been put under the control of Lloyd. But I plan to ussse it for my bessst interessst." General Slithraa slithered over to them. "Everyone worksss while you two ssslack. Asss my sssecond in command, I expect more from you, Ssskalesss." Skales mentally groaned as the clearly hypnotized general glared at him. "Yesss General, you know I am mossst loyal to you, but I mussst quessstion thisss childish agenda. The ninja have ssstolen our ssstaff yet you inssstruct our army to make thisss...  _ playhoussse  _ for Lloyd? Sssnakesss don't belong in treesss, General." Slithraa hissed at Skales. "You know better than to quessstion my judgment, Ssskalesss. I'll pretend you didn't asssk." Lloyd was watching them, frowning at the fact that Skales was more devious than expected. Lloyd rolled his eyes. He would have to change his plan, then. He would unlock ALL the tribes, and lead them to battle against the ninja. He stretched his arms, then walked into the open, putting the mask of child innocence on. "Hey! If we plan to rule Ninjago from here, this elevator needs a trap door! I want more booby traps!" Slithraa bowed to him. "Asss you wish, Young Garmadon." Skales didn't say anything until he realized that his general was glaring at him, and quickly bowed his head, still displeased. "Asss  _ you _ wish, General." Skales said, before stalking away. 

********************

The ninja, Nya, and Sensei Wu sat around the dinner table, excluding Zane. Zane was in the kitchen cooking dinner for the night, and Jay tried to flirt with Nya, (failing miserably) while Cole and Kai arm-wrestled. Jay sighed, giving up on trying to woo Nya. "Hmmm..." he breathed deeply. "I love it when it's Zane's night to cook." Cole looked up, and Kai quickly strengthened his grip, knocking Cole's hand to the table. Cole rolled his eyes, then poked Jay. "Hey! I didn't hear any complaints about my duck chowder last night!" Kai laughed. "That's because it glued our fucking mouths shut. You  _ really  _ though  _ Jay  _ was speechless all throughout dinner?" Jay shuddered. "Yeah. Please don't make that again." Nya laughed at that, and Jay blushed. Sensei Wu inhaled as his students bickered. Zane suddenly walked in, holding a turkey while wearing a...  _ pink flowery apron??? _ "Dinner is served." Zane said, proudly holding up the turkey, only to get extremely confused as the ninja burst out laughing. Zane frowned as Cole banged his fist on the table, Kai fell to the floor, Jay just fell on Nya, who was snickering loudly. "What is so funny?" Zane asked, somehow still confused. Nya breathed, trying to calm down, before replying. "Zane... your wearing a... well even  _ I  _ wouldn't wear that!" Zane looked at his apron, then at the ninja. "You laugh because I take steps to ensure that I'm clean after cooking?" Kai laughed harder at the question. "Hahaha.... no! We laugh because you came out wearing that ridiculous outfit!" Jay started calming down, and realized he was leaning on Nya, then jumped back into his seat, causing Cole to snicker at his expense. Zane cocked his eyebrow. "I guess we don't share the same sense of humor." Cole looked at the plate of shrimp on the table, then smirked. "Well, how about  _ this?"  _ That was all the warning he gave before he threw the plate at Kai, covering him in shrimp. Everyone burst out laughing, except Zane, who just looked confused. Cole looked at him, surprised. "How can you  _ not  _ find that funny?" As he spoke, he was unaware of Sensei Wu casually walking up behind him with a bowl of soup, until he dumped it on Cole. Cole yelped, and Sensei Wu nodded at the ninja. "Now you are brothers." 

That prompted an all out food fight, with Jay dragging Nya behind the bench, only for them to grin at each other, and start rapid firing at Cole and Kai. Zane stood in the middle as the food he spent hours preparing wasn't even eaten, instead thrown at others, causing more mess for him to clean. Nya and Jay turned out to be quite the team, as one would stock up on food while the other threw, then once whoever was throwing ran out, they would switch. Kai ran out, and suddenly found himself at the mercy of Jay and Nya. "No....." he whispered before being covered head-to-toe in food. Cole snuck up on them, and placed the turkey on Jay's head. Jay screeched, then started chasing Cole around, unable to see because of the turkey covering his eyes. Nya sighed, looking at Zane, who was covered in food, and his apron was ruined. "He looked so cute in it..." she said sadly, before whipping around and nailing her brother in the face with a roll. Sensei Wu stalked over to Nya and poured some tea on her hair. She screamed, then threw a bowl of dumplings at him. Sensei Wu spun over to hide behind a wall from Nya, and the other ninja looked in horror as Nya let out a pterodactyl screech and throw food at all of them, including Jay and Zane. Kai finally managed to get Nya under control after about an hour, with a promise that they would let her work for three hours without interruption. She ended up going to bed, and Sensei Wu soon followed. Zane glared at the other ninja. "Well, since you decided to start a food fight, then you can clean it up!" Jay, Kai, and Cole looked at each other, then turned to Zane. "Well... I have to go make sure Nya's okay!" Kai declared before running out of the room. Zane was terrifying when he wanted to be. Jay looked at Zane, then yelped,"Ihavetogogetcleanedupgottogobye!" and rushed away. Cole looked at the ground, and Zane took a step closer. "Uh... I just remembered that I left the weights down in the training area! SO! I have to go get those put away since Sensei hates us leaving our stuff around!" Cole said, hoping to God that Zane couldn't tell he was lying. "Are you... lying to get out of cleaning?" Zane hissed at him. "NOPE BYE!" Cole screamed and ran. 

Zane sighed, picking up the trash. He tied it up then slung it over his shoulder to take out. He went outside, and glared at the ninja who were playing video games now instead of helping. Zane opened the trash and put the bag in. A cawing sound made him look up. He saw a falcon staring at him. He waved to it. It lifted it's wing and waved back. Zane took a step back, blinking. The falcon copied. He raised his arm. The falcon raised it's wing. He danced a little bit. The falcon copied his every move. "Who are you?" Zane whispered. The bird seemed familiar... almost as if... Zane wracked his memories, trying to think of where he'd seen the bird. Just when he thought he'd figured something out, his mind blanked and he couldn't remember. The falcon, as if sensing his distress, flew over to him and circled him. Just as he reached out to touch it, the bird started flying away. Zane was filled with the urge to follow it. He glanced back towards the monastery. The other ninja were inside, still playing video games. He watched the bird fly back towards him, then soar back away. Mind made up, he flipped his hood on and followed. He followed the falcon for a about two hours in the forest before the falcon stopped. Zane looked out from behind a bush, and his jaw dropped. There was a giant tree house in the forest, and it was guarded by Serpentine. Not for the first time, Zane wished that his ninja gi wasn't so visible against the dark forest. Then he heard Lloyd. "If I see one girl in here, I'm gonna go ballistic!" Zane scanned the tree house, and found Lloyd at the top ordering the Serpentine around, the general snake next to him. Lloyd glanced around, and for one heart-stopping-moment, Zane thought that Lloyd had seen him. But his gaze moved away, and Zane found himself involuntarily shivering. That kid was kinda scary. His green eyes with flashes of gold and red? How was that even possible? But Lloyd hadn't seen him, so Zane started moving away. Before he did, he turned to the Falcon. "Thank you, my mysterious friend." The falcon flew off back towards the monastery, and Zane followed him. 

********************

"If I see one girl in here, I'm gonna go ballistic!" Even as Lloyd said it, he hated the mask even more. He wasn't some childish...  _ child,  _ who ordered fucking  _ snakes  _ about, for  _ candy!  _ As much as he loved candy, it really wasn't worth it. He agreed with Skales on that. Speaking of Skales, he needed to keep a better eye on him. If Skales caught wind of his plan, it could spell DOOM for Lloyd and his father. As much as he hated to admit it, he depended on the snakes. He needed them to take over Ninjago so that he could free his father. Though honestly, his father could go fuck himself if he thought that  _ he  _ was running Ninjago instead off Lloyd. Lloyd was gonna run it, and he was gonna make those bitches at Darkly’s  _ pay.  _ They thought he was too  _ weak  _ to even take over a park. He wished he could have seen their faces when word got out that he released the Serpentine. Lloyd smirked at the thought. They were probably freaking the fuck out. He saw something out of the corner of his eye, so Lloyd casually scanned the area. He saw the white ninja, the ice one? The ninja quickly ducked, so fast Lloyd could have sworn he wasn’t there. But Lloyd knew better, and turned away like he hadn’t seen the ninja. He saw the ninja creep away, and knew that the ninja thought he was safe. 

He waited five minutes, the turned to the snakes. “I have a plan!” Lloyd yelled, clapping for their attention. The snakes groaned collectively, but stopped when they saw the creepy smile on the child’s face. General Slithraa slithered up to him. “What shall you have usss do?” Lloyd smirked. “Well, the ninja are on their way. And I figure that you want your staff back. With the ninja away from their monastery, it’s free real estate.” Lloyd mentally patted himself on the back for the vine reference, but quickly turned serious. “What better time to get your staff back then when the ninja are away?” 

Skales hated to admit it, but the child did have a pretty solid plan. Mezmo and Rattla walked up to him. “Ssskalesss, what do you think of Lloyd’sss plan?” Mezmo hissed. Skales sighed. “Hisss plan isss a good one, and he knowsss we need the ssstaff to take power away from Ssslithraa. We have to go with it.” Mezmo and Rattla sighed. "Whatever you sssay Ssskalesss..." Skales told Mezmo and Rattla to leave him, and then he stared into the night, thinking. The child was more devious than what he and the other Serpentine had previously assumed. "That'sss what I get for asssssuming thingsss..." Skales said to himself. There was something...  _ off... _ about Lloyd. He seemed to be very closed off, and that  _ could  _ be dangerous for Skales's plan. 

********************

Zane led the ninja through the forest. The other ninja were bored, and Zane could feel his patience getting thin. He knew the way to Lloyd’s tree fort, and the other ninja were just goofing off and cracking jokes. None of them seemed to believe Zane. It all seemed too good to be true. Zane rolled his eyes and mentally facepalmed for the seventieth time that day as Jay tripped and Cole snickered. “Shocker… lightning boy is quick with his powers and mouth, but not with his feet…” Jay raised his voice. “Alright, just because  _ you  _ didn’t trip, doesn’t mean I’m clumsy!” Zane pulled ahead, and Kai glanced at the other two ninja. “I don’t even think Zane knows where the fuck he’s going.” He raised his voice to Zane. “Uh, tell us again how you stumbled upon Lloyd’s secret headquarters?” Zane looked back at them, realizing that he hadn’t told them all the events from last night. “I followed a bird.” Jay frowned, or at least that’s what Zane assumed, because all the ninja had their masks on. “Why did you follow a bird?” Zane stopped. He hadn’t really known  _ why  _ he followed the bird. It just seemed…  _ important. _ He made up his mind about what to tell the others. “Because it danced.” Jay blinked. “Oh… okay. Was it a  _ cuckoo bird?”  _ Kai and Cole burst out laughing, and Zane was just confused. Jay straightened up. “The bird.” He said, trying to let Zane in on the joke. Kai was still laughing, and Cole was snickering. “Of course not. Everyone knows cuckoo birds are not indigineous to these forests.” The other three ninja just gaped at him. Zane ignored their incredulous looks and continued towards Lloyd’s tree house. The ninja crept forwards, and then heard Lloyd yelling. “Watch it! No, bigger! Come on, we don’t have all day! It’s not time for a lunch break!” Cole started at the noise. “Holy shit, Frosty was right!” Zane rolled his eyes. “Language Cole, even if Lloyd is on the wrong side, he is still a child who shouldn’t be swearing. Or knowing how to swear.” Kai ignored him and pushed forwards. “We can’t let that brat and those snakes get a foothold of Ninjago. We gotta destroy that thing before it becomes operational!” Jay looked at Kai, disappointment clouding his eyes. “Whoa! Are you sure?” He whined. “It looks like a pretty cool treehouse! There’s a ropes course! Ooh, a tree swing!” Cole smacked his head. “Hey! Remember who’s team you’re on! Alright guys, what do we do?” 

********************

Lloyd glanced back at the snake scouts who just came back. “The ninja are here Massster Lloyd.” One snake hissed to him. Lloyd nodded. “Send the patrol up here, I want to speak with them.” The snake nodded, then stalked towards the stairs. The snake was kinda scared of Lloyd now. He was a child, yes, but he certainly acted very adult-like and evil when he was planning something. He told the patrol to go up to Lloyd. Lloyd was waiting for them, tapping his foot impatiently. “Good, you are here.” Lloyd finally said, seeing the patrol. “Alright, the ninja are in the woods, ready to storm us any minute. I need all of you to leave and get to their monastery, and get your staff back. Use any means necessary to get it back. I know that you need it for your leader to remain in charge.” At the snakes gaping mouths, he held up his hand. “Yes, I know about it. I do read.” Actually, he hadn’t read any real books since at least a year ago, he had looked information on the Serpentine up. The internet was amazing. “Do it, for all I care. I know that it is important to you, and I want the monastery  _ gone _ . It just needs to be unusable so I can gain a better foothold against them, and so they are busy while I free my father.” The snakes were in shock. Somehow this child had fooled them all into thinking that he was naive and was just mischievous. They were incredibly wrong. Lloyd’s eyes narrowed. “Once Nya and my…  _ Uncle  _ are out of the monastery, get your staff and… I don’t know, burn it down or something. Just get rid of it!” The snakes nodded, then scaled the walls down to the ground. Lloyd turned back to the forest, and motioned to the other snakes. “I hope all of you can act!” He said quietly, hoping the ninja hadn’t heard him.

********************

The ninja were still trying to come up with a plan. Kai pointed to some trees. “It looks like the entire place is being supported by those three trees. Once those trees are severed, the whole thing is gonna fall like a house or cards.” Zane raised an eyebrow, very confused. “But why would one make a house of cards? Such construction would be careless.” Kai sighed. “Oh brother…” he whispered to himself. Cole slapped him on the back. “Travel in shadows, boys.” The ninja crept up to the treehouse and Kai used his sword to slash one of the ropes, keeping a tight grip on it. Kai jumped, swinging on to the treehouse, not-so-silently. Cole ran up to the elevator, and inconspicuously used that. Zane and Jay climbed up a tree, Zane leading. Jay fell, and Zane quickly reached down to grab him. “Gotcha!” He whispered to him. Jay glanced down, realizing he could have died. “Th-thanks…” he whispered to him. Zane nodded, pulling Jay up with him. The four ninja crept towards Lloyd. Lloyd could hear them, but acted like he couldn’t. “It’s almost finished!” He yelled, tilting his head slightly to show the snakes that the ninja were here. “Soon, my fortress will be complete!” He pointed to a snake who was standing next to a sign. “You! Hold that sign up for me!” The sign was a piece of wood that said in sloppy handwriting, “No girls or Ninja!” Lloyd didn’t like writing, he would rather draw or type, and his handwriting, grammar and spelling were really bad. Probably because Darkly’s didn’t really care about those things, just taking over Ninjago, or how to steal. Lloyd was great at that, too. The snake obediently picked up the sign, and Lloyd flipped a switch, and the floor dropped and the soldier crashed into a cage under the floor. Lloyd did his childish grin. Yes, he was acting, but that was absolutely hilarious. “Booby trap!” He yelled in his fakest leader voice. 

The ninja quickly climbed onto the roof, and they began to go for the poles. Jay leaped for the pole, and used Spinjitzu to sever the rope. “Ninja-Go!” He cheered, albeit quietly. Zane spun over to a second rope holding the tree house, and cut that one too. “Ninja-Go!” He agreed with Jay, quieter than him. The treehouse leaned forwards, dangerously tilting on one tree. Lloyd glanced up, and saw the fucking fire ninja on top of the roof in the open. Time to test his and the snakes’ acting skills. “I said no Ninja! Attack!” He yelled, hoping that the Serpentine were ready. “Everyone, retreat!” Skales yelled. He wasn’t a bad actor, all things considered. But he was to ready to leave. Lloyd thought these snakes were  _ warriors,  _ not  _ cowards.  _ The Hypnobrai warriors started leaving the treehouse, trying to get away before the ninja attacked. Kai motioned to Cole. “Cole!” He shouted. “Wait until we’re off the treehouse, then cut the line!” Cole nodded, moving to block the Hypnobrai. Skales pointed at him. “You! You will obey my every command…” A rattling was heard, and Cole’s mind fogged, and his eyes turned red with lines going across them. Cole swayed, then opened his mind. “I will obey your every command…” He said, voice dream-like. 

Jay looked around. “Where’s Cole?” He yelled to the other ninja, starting to panic. Kai gasped. “This whole place is coming down!” The ninja saw Cole start walking towards them, but he walking funny and his eyes were red and glowing. He pulled out his scythe. “No one goes anywhere until you deal with me!” Cole yelled. The other ninja took a step back, and Kai was the first to speak. “What’s gotten into him?” he shouted to Jay and Zane. “He’s under their control,” Zane said sadly. “Yeah, well he better snap out of it quick because this whole fucking place looks like it’s about to go down!” Jay snapped. The fucking Garma-bratt was still yelling at the Serpentine. “Don’t go! We have to protect my treehouse!” the kid yelled. One of the Serpentine whipped around at this. “Your treehoussse? It’sss about time we did thisss!” He pulled a lever and the floor dropped under Lloyd. “Wh-what?” 

Had he had more time and sympathy, Kai would have felt bad for the kid. But he didn’t, so… “Doesss the other patrol have the ssstaff?” A Serpentine yelled, but not loud enough for the ninja to hear. The ninja took a step backwards as Cole advanced on them. Jay held his hands up. “Okay, now come on. Friends don’t hit friends,” he started, but was interrupted as Cole kicked him in the jaw. Jay fell back, and Zane caught him. He stood up, rubbing his jaw. “Shit, ow, okay. I-I-I’m gonna ignore that.” “Language,” Zane muttered, glancing towards the young Garmadon. Kai looked at the other ninja, frowning. “What am I supposed to do? If I use my sword, this place will turn up in flames faster than a tinderbox!” Zane thought for a moment. “Isn’t the anti-venom in the staff?” Jay nodded. “Yeah, but the staff is back at the Monastery.” As they were speaking, Cole leaped at Kai and knocked him off the top of the treehouse. Zane spun around and grabbed Kai, before turning to Jay. “Jay! Use your lightning! Try to shock him out of his trance!” Jay winced, before turning to Cole. “Oh, sorry Cole, but this is gonna hurt you a lot more than it’s gonna hurt me.” His nunchucks spun around, faster and faster, more lightning flickering around the weapon. Jay flicked his wrist forwards, and the lightning hurled towards Cole. Cole was flung back a few feet, but got back up, growling. He leaped at Jay, who squeaked before he fell off the roof. Zane ran for him, but Jay was falling too fast. Jay reached out and his fingers brushed against some ropes, and he grabbed them as fast as he could. The treehouse leaned to the side, and Jay screamed. “That is a serious safety hazard!” he yelped. Cole held his scythe out and reached for the last rope, the one that would doom them all. “No, Cole!” Both Kai and Zane yelled. Kai then yelled, “Don’t!” while Zane yelled, “No!” 

As Cole began to sever the rope, a flute tune began playing. Cole blinked and the red faded from his eyes as the ninja saw Sensei Wu and Nya flying towards them on Flame, Kai’s dragon. Cole shook his head, and blanked when he saw where he was. “Huh? Where-where am I?” He looked at the other ninja. “What are we doing?” Nya waved, steering Flame closer. “We’re getting outta here because this whole place is coming down!” She snapped at them. Cole jumped onto Flame, Kai following. Jay and Zane jumped on once they were on, and they began to soar higher. “That flute!” Kai started, pointing towards the flute in Sensei Wu’s hands. “It cancels their powers!” Jay exclaimed. Sensei Wu nodded, smiling slightly. “It’s as old as the Serpentine themselves.” he quickly turned sober. “But we must hurry! The Monastery is unguarded! Quickly!” 

********************

The ninja, Nya, and Sensei Wu flew as fast as Flame could go to get back to the Monastery. Flame was panting and groaning as the dragon flew. Flame stopped and slumped to the ground as the others could only stare in horror as the Monastery burned to the ground. “We’re too late. Those snakes…” Kai said in shock. A sudden cry had the ninja look up. The dragons. “Rocky!” Cole ran over to the stables and saw Rocky and Wisp panicking and it looked like Shard was trying to calm them down. Cole quickly opened the stable doors and the dragons flew out as fast as they could. The dragons flew back down next to the ninja. “Our home…” Kai said, still not fully processing the scene before him. “Shard! Put this out!” Zane told the ice dragon. The dragon flew into the air and breathed ice on the flames, putting the fire out, very close to the way Sensei Wu had during their infamous Green Ninja tournament. But this was so much worse. Zane looked around. “The training equipment… gone…” Jay gasped as he realized something. “Our video games, gone!” That video game had been given to him by his parents. It had taken a long time for him to trust the ninja enough to let them play it. And it was gone. The only… actual object Jay had cared about for a long time. Sensei Wu gazed at the burned Monastery. It would take years to rebuild, and it would never be the same. His father, now long dead, had built it when he and his brother were young. “They stole their staff back,” he murmured, mostly to himself. Cole tried to squash down any emotions he had, then turned to the old man. “What do we do now?” he asked Sensei Wu. Something inside Kai broke. This had been the one place he truly felt  _ safe  _ after his parents went missing, and it was Zane’s fault. He whipped around to face the ice ninja. “If you hadn’t followed that fucking bird, none of this would have happened!” he yelled. “Kai!” Sensei Wu immediately scolded. Jay pushed in front of him. “No! Sensei, he’s right! Because of you, my high score has been deleted!” He snapped, trying not to show how hurt he actually was. Zane took a step back. “This is a teaching moment.” he tried. “We must learn from this!” Cole glared at him. “A teaching moment? What the fuck is  _ wrong  _ with you?!” he snapped. “Don’t you get it?  _ Everything is gone!”  _ Zane took a step back, raising his eyebrows at the pure  _ anger  _ coming from the ninja. Sensei Wu stepped forward to gain the ninja’s attention. “Enough! We are all at fault. Zane is your brother. Apologize at once.” The sensei snapped at them. “Also, language Cole.” The three ninja looked at the ground, feeling ashamed, before turning to their brother. Kai looked up. “I’m sorry Zane… I…” Zane wasn’t there. “Zane?” Jay asked questioningly. They heard a roar, and the three ninja and sensei looked up to see the white ninja flying away on Shard, the ice dragon. 

********************

The Serpentine returned to the tomb, Lloyd very confused on what had happened. He hadn’t read anything about this.  _ Guess you can’t believe everything you read. _ He thought. The snakes had quickly turned on him, and while he was pretty good, he doubted he could take them all on at once without some premeditated plan. Skales held the staff and was leading the snakes. Lloyd was in the back, tied up, and walking next to the General. Lloyd glared at General Slithraa. “Do something, General. You’re still under my command, right?” He sure hoped the snake was, or his plans would be put on Halt for a while. Slithraa reared back at the command, before his eyes turned cold. “Enough!” Slithraa shouted. “I am the General! You will return my ssstaff at once!” Skales pretended to think for a moment, then clutched the staff to his chest. “No…” he hissed. Slithraa hissed at the defiance. “You dare challenge my command?!” he roared. That got the other Hypnobrai excited. They wanted to see a fight, Lloyd assumed. They circled around Slithraa and Skales, “Ssslither Pit! Ssslither Pit! Ssslither Pit! Ssslither Pit!” they chanted. Skales smirked. “I guessssss we’ll have to fight for it… in the Ssslither Pit!” The Hypnobrai cheered loudly and they practically ran to the pit where all the fights take place. Lloyd leaned towards Slithraa as they walked. “What’s a Slither Pit?” He asked him, hoping for answers. Seriously, you’d think the internet had more information about this kinda shit. Skales barely spared him a glance as he answered for the general. “The Ssslither Pit is a fight where one sssnake warrior fightsss againssst the general for the ssstaff, and control of the tribe…” Lloyd shivered and let Skales go ahead. This would… complicate things. 

Skales and Slithraa faced each other inside of the ice ring. The Hybnobrai spread out around the outside ice. Lloyd’s arm was chained to a huge block of ice, and he strained to see better. This was one of the many times Lloyd cursed his height. A few Serpentine took pity on him, and moved so he would have a clearer view. He stopped straining and watched in nervous anticipation as the Slithraa and Skales had a mini glare-off. Slithraa needed to win this for Lloyd to get his father back. Another snake, Mezmo, walked into the center of the ice, in between Skales and Slithraa. “Winner getsss the ssstaff and leads the tribe! You know the rulesss.” He paused, and Lloyd wondered what rules  _ snakes  _ would have. Apparently he hadn’t done enough research. He made a mental note to do more next time he had an evil plan. “There are none, but in the Ssslither Pit, whatever I sssay goesss.” Honestly, that wasn’t surprising at all to Lloyd. Why would they fight fair? They are quite literally  _ snakes. _ “Alright,” he leaped over the ice wall and stood next to the controls. “Fight!” Lloyd looked around, spotting a map. It was probably important, so just as a middle finger to the snakes, he reached over discreetly, trying to get to it. “Two weaponsss!” Mezmo yelled, before pulling a lever. An ice chunk slowly lowered from the ceiling, weapons around the bottom. It stopped before it could touch the ground. The general slid over and pulled a pick-ax and a shield from the icy armory. Skales grabbed two katannas, and privately Lloyd agreed that Skales’s choice was the better one. He wasn’t going to tell him that, though. Slithraa attempted to hit Skales, throwing his pick-ax at him, but the snake dodged with a hiss, and the ax stuck in the wall of the ice ring. Mezmo smirked, and Lloyd decided that he didn’t like the snake much. “Side winder!” The referee yelled, and pushed a button. The ice ring tilted, and the snakes fighting slid downwards. Lloyd pulled on the chain and his fingers grasped the edge of the map. He gripped it harder, praying it wouldn’t tear, then pulled it from the ice. “Yes!” He whispered, but a snake turned to look at him. Lloyd pushed the map into his pocket and pumped hs fist in the air, right before the snake turned around. “Go General, go!” He cheered, hoping that convinced the Hypnobrai in front of him. The warrior shrugged before watching the match again. He really hated the entirely fake childishness he was doing. Because he wasn’t a child. At all. Totally...

Skales leapt towards Slithraa, who used his tail to block the attack. Slithraa rattled his tail and attempted to hypnotize Skales, but the snake avoided the general’s eyes. Skales then spun around and moved his arms and legs sprinting around Slithraa. The general held his head, waiting for the dizziness to pass, and didn’t see Skales running towards him. “Gener-” Lloyd began, but it was too late. Skales kicked Slithraa square in the jaw, and the snake leader fell backwards, holding his jaw. “He usssed Fang-Kwon-Do!” A snake near Lloyd, Rattla maybe? Whispered to another. What the hell was Fang-Kwon-Do? “Get up!” Lloyd yelled. “Get up!” This time he actually as worried. Slithraa was going to lose, and he was gonna lose the only sort of allies he had. Skales must have a powerful kick, because Slithraa still wasn’t getting up. Skales stood up, triumphant, and Mezmo opened a door in the ice and walked to Skales. He held the Hypnobrai staff in one hand, and lifted one of Skales’ in the other. “We have a winner!” He shouted, giving the staff to Skales. Oh this was not good at all. 

Lloyd watched in a horrified interest as Skales’ legs moved together and turned blue with markings and slowly got longer. It was disgusting but still kind of cool. Slithraa, on the other hand, groaned as his tail shrunk and split and HOLY SHIT THAT WAS FUCKING GROSS- the squelch it made was the worst part. Lloyd almost threw up, but forced down the nausea. “Ssskalesss! Sssskalesss! Ssskalesss!” The tribe chanted, and Lloyd was now mentally scarred, but what else is new? The newly christened Hypnobrai leader pointed menacingly at the now-Warrior Slithraa. “You will be loyal to me now!” The defeated Serpentine bowed his head. “I will do asss you command…” Skales whipped around to Lloyd, who had just wormed his way out of the chain. His wrists were apparently really small. “You!” He yelled to the boy. “Leave and never return!” Lloyd faked a gasp, he knew it was coming, but all he could think of was ‘ _ well shit. _ ’ 

********************

The ninja-minus Zane- sat on a mountain top. Wu had told them that it was called the “Mountain of Impossible Height” but the ninja had proved that wrong by climbing it fairly quickly. Nya studied whatever the fuck they were eating. “Wh-what are we eating again?” Kai stuttered, cold from the wind and the height. Cole shuddered. “Mud newt.” He tried to smile at the others, but it came out a grimace. “Not bad for something that lives underground…” Jay was disgusted. “What?” No one told him it lived underground! He spit out the piece he had been trying to force down before giving up and throwing the mud newt away from him. Jay saw a can and threw a rock at it, making it in. “Y-yeah! A new high sc-score!” He almost cried. Video games were really his passion, and it was the only thing he thought he was good at. Well, that and kicking the other’s asses at building things. (Except Nya, of course) 

Sensei Wu sighed. His students were not faring well, at least the ones he still had weren’t. With Zane missing and Lloyd with Serpentine willingly, he had a feeling everyone was feeling kind of depressed. “Remember, we must be thankful for what we still have,” Wu attempted to lift their spirits. “What do we have? Our home is gone,” Cole said, genuinely confused. Kai breathed. “Ya know, I don’t miss our home much. What I really miss is Zane.” Jay nodded. “Yeah… I miss Zane.” 

Nya raised an eyebrow. “Zane?” she asked. Jay nodded again. “Yeah, Zane. You know. White Ninja. The smart, strange one!” Nya laughed. “No! Zane!” She pointed towards some rocks. Zane walked around a rock and waved. All of them cheered. “Zane!” They yelled, rushing towards him. Jay sighed in relief. “Zane! We’re so sorry for everything we said! We’re a team and that means we’re  _ all  _ responsible!” Zane smiled slightly at the shorter ninja. “You do not need to apologize to me.” Kai frowned at the taller ninja. “But what about all those awful things we said? Isn’t that why you left?” Zane blinked slowly. “Of course not.” He said, and Kai let out the breath he was holding. “I saw the Falcon again and I followed him.” Cole smiled. “That’s our Zane.” He hugged the white ninja, Kai and Jay joining, then Nya, then Wu. Nya smiled at Zane. “We’re happy to have you back!” It was Zane’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Why? Is it my turn to make dinner?” Everyone burst out laughing, and Zane looked confused. It had been a serious question, why were they laughing? Sensei Wu breathed in. “Yes, Zane. We would love for you to make dinner.” Zane smiled at the old man. “But I already made it. Come.” He beckoned, pointing to the distance. “I want to show you what I found. I think you will all be pleased.” The ninja packed up the small camp they made while Cole and Jay bounced around happily at the thought or  _ real  _ food. 

Zane led them to the Sea of Sand. “I can’t explain it, but I feel a strange connection to the Falcon. I think he is trying to help show us the path we need to take.” Nya gasped. There was a ship there. A little old, probably, but it was beautiful. “Our new home.” Zane explained. Nya grinned at her brother. “Destiney.” She whispered. “What?” Jay asked. She pointed to the ship. “It was Destiny, so that’s what it will be called. Destiny's Bounty.” Kai flung an arm around his sister. “I love it.” He said, squeezing her into a hug. Jay broke them all out of their thoughts. “Do I smell pie?” Of course, Jay smelled the food. Zane nodded. “Cobbler Berry. Oh, and I made myrtle berry and apple and-” He was cut off as Cole, Nya, Jay and Kai ran towards the ship. No one questioned how he made so much pie in such little time, but it was pie and the other ninja loved Zane’s pie. Wu placed a hand on the white ninja’s shoulder. “I’m proud of you, Zane. One day, I promise: We will find your family.” Zane smiled then gestured to the ship the ninja were fast approaching. “But I have already found them.” Sensei Wu was proud of the ninja. He let out a chuckle before gripping his staff. “I feel there is more to you than meets the eye. There is something special about you, Zane.” Zane brightened considerably. “Sensei, will I become the Green Ninja.” Privately Sensei knew there was little chance Zane would, but the ninja needed to figure out who it was for themselves. Zane might, but Sensei doubted it. “It’s too early to tell, but if it’s your path, you’ll know. Come now. It would be a shame to let them eat all that pie.” With that, the last ninja and the sensei ran to the ship and attempted to stop the others from having yet another food fight. If they somehow got involved, and Zane creamed everyone, (figuratively and literally, where was he hiding the whipped cream?) then that's just what  _ families  _ do. 

********************

Lloyd had never understood family. His abandoned him, so why should he care what the ninja and his uncle did? As long as they stayed out of his way, he was happy right? Yet a small part of Lloyd longed for a family, someone to care for him, someone to be with. He also wanted a home, a stable one, and maybe even a friend. Lloyd doubted any of it would happen, so he tried to ignore his feelings. He also tried to ignore the random spurts of green energy that occasionally came out of his hands. He bottled his feelings until he couldn’t feel them. He let the anger and resentment run his shitty life, and he hated so he didn’t have to feel heartbroken. It wasn’t healthy, but no one had ever shown him any better way, so he didn’t care. Lloyd wandered around, pulling out the map. He began searching for the second Serpentine tribe. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did y'all think? Also, those places are actually what they are called, I looked it up lol

**Author's Note:**

> Thx for reading! This took me WAY too long to write, but I hope y'all like it. Most of the dialogue is the same, (I was looking at the script :p so...) I sometimes changed it. Lloyd is more devious, I mean, he IS the son of LORD GARMADON! I also made his grammar not perfect, bc I don't think Darkly's really cared if the kids had proper grammar.... pls tell me what you think!


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